TEACHER, SON FACE WEAPONS CHARGES

An elementary school teacher and his son faced federal weapons charges Thursday after authorities found an illegal cache of guns, bombs and ammunition in a closet at their south Dade home.

Alongside the arsenal in a walk-in closet was a selection of paperbacks that included How to Kill and The Quiet Killers, authorities said.

Stephen Chase, 60, and son Christopher Chase, 34, were arrested Wednesday after Metro-Dade officers raided their home, 15101 SW 74th Way, thinking it was a "chop shop" - a site for dismantling stolen cars.

But detectives said they found not only stolen cars in the $320,000 house, but an arsenal as well.

Detectives then called in agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Bandoliers of ammunition and 50 firearms - including a fully automatic M-14 rifle, the drug dealer's favored MAC-10 machine gun and a World War II-era .30-caliber carbine - were seized from the home. Investigators also seized short-barreled rifles and semiautomatic firearms, 25,000 rounds of ammunition, gunpowder and the makings for pipe bombs, and several silencers.

The pipe bombs were powerful enough to kill several people or blow up a car, said Orlando Blanco, ATF spokesman in Miami.

The Chases did not have the required federal license to sell weapons, and many items in the arsenal, such as the machine guns and silencers, were not registered as federal law requires. Both men had state-issued permits to carry concealed weapons.

"They had an armory in there," said Wilfredo Fernandez, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami. "But the real question is where was this stuff going. What kind of gang or militia orders silencers in that quantity?"

The Chases, charged in federal court in Miami with manufacturing firearms without a license and possession of illegal firearms, were released on $30,000 bond each.

The five-count indictment carries possible sentences of 50 years in prison and $1.25 million fines.

Records show Stephen Chase began work as a substitute teacher for Dade County Schools at age 51 in 1988. By 1995, he was working as a full-time teacher with emotionally disturbed students at Kelsey Pharr Elementary School. He earned $30,500 a year.

"His coworkers all say he just did his job _ nothing more, nothing less," said Dade County schools spokesman Henry Fraind. "If you had to pick a plus or a minus, you'd probably describe him as a minus."

Chase's personnel record does not show that he had ever been disciplined or reprimanded for any serious offense, Fraind said. Fraind declined to release the teacher's personnel file on Thursday.

If Chase is found guilty of the illegal gun possession charges, school district officials said they are prepared to begin the process to remove Chase's state teacher's license.

"When we trust our children to someone, we expect our educators to lead a normal life," Fraind said.

During a court appearance on Thursday, Christopher Chase said he was self-employed.

For months, the Chase's neighbors had complained of noise and foul smells coming from what appeared to be a car-repair business place at the home.

Two to three times a week, a car would be rolled into a garage at the Chase home, where it be refurbished, neighbors said.

"It used to go on constantly," said neighbor Walter Schlect. "You could always hear the spray guns and the tools going."

Police investigating reports of a "chop shop" found about 10 vehicles in various states of dismantlement, including a BMW car and two Harley-Davidson motorcycles reported stolen in the past two months.

Parts - doors, hoods, engines and transmissions - were found in the oversized garage and a rear shed.

Schlect said he had no idea that there were guns in the home. He was stunned to see what he described as two dozen ATF agents sweep into his neighborhood. "This is all very surprising," he said. "This is certainly not what I moved here for."